Kaiping is located in the western part of the PearlRiver Delta in the hills and plains.It is home toan exotic architectural treasure—the Diaolou（watchtower house）。
Beginning in the Ming Dynasty，the local peasants，worried about their remote location，pooled their resourcesto build high imposing watchtower houses in the villageto resist bandits and floods.At the end of the OpiumWar in 1840，many villagers were forced to leave the villageto seek other livelihoods，crossing the sea to Americain great numbers to work as laborers.At the beginningof the last century，many overseas Chinese，though theyhad been successfully working overseas for a numberof years，still longed for their homeland and gradually began returning home.Conditions in the country at thetime were very unsettled，with warlords and banditscontrolling different regions of the country.The onlyway the returning villagers could protect themselveswas to turn their homes into tall imposing watchtowers.
The returning Chinese had spent most of their livesoverseas and had been greatly affected by foreign artand culture to which they were exposed，so the watchtowersthey built showed strong influences from classicalWestern architecture.The reason Kaiping becamesuch a thriving place at the beginning of the last centurywas due to hard labor of those overseas Chinese，whichalso greatly enriched the cultural content and value ofthe Kaiping Diaolou.
During its most prosperous period，there were over3，000 watchtowers in the county of Kaiping.
Stretching dozens of kilometersfrom Shuikou to Baihe and from Tangkou to Xiangang and Chishui，the endless array ofwatchtowers form a scene that is undoubtedly the mostattractive aspect of Kaiping.The watchtowers are foundthroughout Kaiping，and nearly every village has them.
The greatest concentration is found in the villages ofZili，Sanmanli，Jinjiangli，and Majianglong.These manywatchtowers are the evidence of the political，economic，and cultural development of Kaiping and the visible traceof history as well as a symbol of the melding of Chineseand Western culture.These local rural residents independentlycombined Western architectural styles with localChinese architectural styles to create the wide variety ofstyles of Kaiping’s watchtowers.Ancient Greek porticoes，Roman columns，pointed Gothic-style spires from medievalEurope and elements from European castles can beseen everywhere.Ruishi Tower，known as“the numberone watchtower in Kaiping，”is a fairly good example.
It was built during the twelfth to fourteenth years of the period of the Republic of China（1923–1925）by HuangBixiu，a private Hong Kong banker and medical supplymagnate.Ruishi Tower is located to the east of JinjiangTower on the main axis running through the residences ofthe village and is a good example of a residential watchtower.
The whole building has the feel of a medieval Italiancastle.But while the sides of the building use Westernstyle window sills like porticoes with carved plaster，among the many images are traditional Chinese auspiciouscharacters such as prosperity，riches，happiness，andlong life.Underneath the Western exterior is the rich flavorof traditional Chinese culture and traditional Chinesestyle.
The Diaolou of Kaiping was inscribed World Heritagestatus by the 31st World Heritage committee meeting onJune 28，2007.
